"Ran like a steam engine"- Fans react as India wins silver in Mixed 4x400m relay at Asian Games 2023

India won silver in the 4x400m mixed relay at the Asian Games on Monday. The defending champions from Jakarta 2018 finished third on the track but were bumped up to second when Sri Lanka, who finished second, were disqualified for lane infringement. The Indian quartet clocked a time of 3:14:34, which is a new national record.

The Indian quartet consisted of Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, the stars from the World Athletics Championships last month where India finished fifth in the 4x400m men’s event. Alongside them were Subha Venkatesan and Vithya Ramraj, who equalled PT Usha's 39-year-old national record in the 400m hurdles heats earlier in the day.

India was the slowest off the blocks with its reaction time of 0.274s in the 4x400m mixed relay event. However, this didn’t stop Muhammad Ajmal from clocking the fastest time of the first leg at 43.14s. The baton was then passed on to Vithya Ramraj who maintained the first position in the second leg of the relay and passed the baton to Rajesh Ramesh. Rajesh, the star from the World Athletics Final, finished second in his leg with a time of 45.77s.

The anchor leg was to be run by Subha Venkatesan. She started off her leg strongly but was unable to catch up with the Bahraini former world champion Salwa Eid Naser. Eventually, it became a battle for second place with the Sri Lankan runner who just nudged Subha out for second.

Though India finished third on the track, they eventually won silver. This was because the Sri Lankan squad was disqualified from the event due to lane infringement. The internet loved this performance from the Indian track and field stars at the 2023 Asian Games. Here are some of the best reactions:

History repeats itself for India at Asian Games

This is not the first time India has seen their medal upgraded in the mixed 4x400m event at the Asian Games. In 2018, when the event made its debut at the Asian Games, India finished second on the track behind Bahrain. The Athletics Federation of India lodged a protest against Bahrain citing that during a baton exchange, Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya fell in the path of Hima Das and obstructed her run. This protest was eventually rejected by the Asian Games Jury of Appeals but destiny had something else in store for India.

In January 2019, Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya (who was accused of hampering Hima Das during the Asian Games) tested positive for a banned substance. This led to the disqualification of the Bahrain team. India were thus upgraded to the gold medal, which was the country's 16th gold of Asian Games 2018.